Best Picture - Drama
Winner - Nomadland
Runners Up - The Trial of the Chicago 7, Promising Young Woman, One Night in Miami, Mank, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Da 5 Bloods, Minari
Commentary - Despite all of the challenges this year, 2020 was actually a pretty great year for cinema. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and One Night in Miami tell vibrant and important stories of black success. Mank, like its muse Citizen Kane, will be viewed better with time. Da 5 Bloods, The Trial of the Chicago 7, and Promising Young Woman made us angry about the work still left to do, and Minari reminded us of the power of family. Yet no film has lingered with me quite like Chloe Zhao's Nomadland. It is a film that was meant to be seen on a big screen, and I hope I get that chance at some point. But even on a smaller screen, it still has the same power. Hauntingly honest and incredibly timely in the era of the pandemic, Nomadland is about the deferment of the American Dream. It is about the insecurity that so many face, the greed of the American corporation, and the people who often get lost in the shuffle at the expense of profit. Now none of these things are inherently discussed in the film, but they linger in the background. In actuality, Nomadland is a quiet movie, centered on one woman's journey (the brilliant Frances McDormand as Fern) as a 21st Century nomad. Zhao showcases the hardships she faces to survive, and the day to day struggles to ensure food, clothing, shelter. Yet, Zhao and McDormand don't let this movie ever wallow in self-pity. There is also a dash of hopefulness. There are segments of friendship and comradery, there are segments of beautiful landscapes and adventurous travels. As much as Fern is a victim of economic fallout, she is also a woman who gets to live free, to explore, to dare to dream beyond a day-to-day existence. To quote Hunter Thompson: "It was the tension between these two poles - a restless idealism on one hand and a sense of impending doom on the other - that kept me going." Nomadland's two poles project forward onto to the screen with incredible mastery, a mastery that will most likely make Chloe Zhao only the second woman, and first woman of color, to win the Best Directing Academy Award. Those poles are also why Nomadland will be remembered for a long time as a timeless, and important, masterpiece.
Best Picture - Comedy/Musical
Winner - The Forty-Year-Old Version
Runners Up - On the Rocks and The Climb
Commentary - In this dark year in our history, there were a few bright spots that brought light. Radha Blank's masterful debut, The Forty-Year-Old Version was one of those bright spots. I just cannot say enough good things about this movie. I had heard good things about it out of Sundance, and one December night decided to sit down, log in to Netflix, and give it a shot. I had zero expectations about what I was going to experience. What a wonderful decision I made that night. Led by an funny and heartfelt script, and a stunning lead performance from Blank, The Forty-Year-Old Version is just an incredibly joyous experience, that also manages to showcase the struggle of people of color, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and the struggle of artists everywhere. It doesn't mean that it is a dramedy. It is an uproarious comedy, that just also happens to have an intellectual and beating heart at its core. Some have complained that it is messy. Of course it is! Blank's artistic journey is filled with twists and turns, triumphs and doubts. The film is about life, life is messy, art is messy, success is messy. The energy, the honesty, and the humanity that is shown in this film is what makes it better than the rest, and why it is one of the best films of the year.
Best Picture - Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror
Winner - The Vast of Night
Runners Up - The Invisible Man, Bacurau, His House, and The Old Guard
Commentary - Without a lot of big budget movies this year, indie science fiction and horror films got to shine. One of the best examples was Andrew Patterson's The Vast of Night. A quiet, inventive, fun, old school historical science fiction film, with a new fervor and energy from a young talent. The Vast of Night may not have the sprawling visuals of studio projects, but it nails its genre, and provides the audience with so much more than most similar films accomplish with 10x the budget.
Best Picture - Animated
Winner - Soul
Runner Up - Wolfwalkers
Commentary - Pixar has its ups and downs (for example, 2020's Onward, while decent, is definitely not one of the company's best works). When it hits an up, which is usually every time, we are reminded of why they have had such stunning success for the last twenty-five years. Soul is ground-breaking in terms of its visual effects and production design, and while it missed out at both at the Oscars, the guilds have recognized that work. It is also, like so many Pixar movies, a brilliantly voiced, beautifully wrought story of love, family, heart, and yes, soul. Soul will leave you crying, laughing, tapping your feet, and mesmerized by what you have just witnessed on screen.
Best Picture - Documentary
Winner - Time
Runners Up - Collective and MLK/FBI
Commentary - Collective reminded us at how close to losing democracy we can be if we don't stop corruption. MLK/FBI reminded us of how little we have moved forward in the last half century. But no film had an impact quite like Garrett Bradley's Time. Telling the story of Fox Rich, and her campaign to release her husband from jail, Time is heart-wrenching, hopeful, beautifully constructed film by Bradley and his team, and ultimately reminds us of the love of family, and the need to reform our criminal justice system before more time is taken away.
Best Director
Winner - Chloe Zhao "Nomadland"
Runners Up - Pete Docter and Kemp Powers "Soul", David Fincher "Mank", Lee Isaac Chung "Minari", Paul Greengrass "News of the World", and Aaron Sorkin "The Trial of the Chicago 7"
Commentary - See Best Picture - Drama
Best Actor - Drama
Winner - (TIE) Chadwick Boseman "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" and Delroy Lindo “Da 5 Bloods”
Runners Up - Riz Ahmed "Sound of Metal", Gary Oldman "Mank", and Steven Yeun "Minari"
Commentary - Delroy Lindo's absence from the Oscar race is probably the most unforgiveable snub of the season. His raw, rough, enigmatic, tragic, and magnanimous performance was infuriating, jaw-dropping, mesmerizing, and proved why Delroy Lindo deserves bigger and better roles. This year also saw another impassioned, and unfortunately final, performance from the late, great Chadwick Boseman. In his short career, Boseman celebrated Black History, gave his passion to amazing roles, and sold out theaters with his talent. In his final role, Boseman knew he was dying. It now makes sense why it felt like he was giving everything he had in him on the screen in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. It's because he knew it was his last time. His final role was heartbreaking, and his death even more so. A final gut-wrenching reminder of what this industry, and all of us who love film, have lost.
Best Actress - Drama
Winner - Carey Mulligan "Promising Young Woman"
Runners Up - Nicole Beharie "Miss Juneteenth", Viola Davis "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom", and Frances McDormand "Nomadland"
Commentary - Nicole Beharie was fantastic, Viola Davis was mesmerizing, and Frances McDormand was enigmatic. In a stunning year for women in film, it is hard to pick just one winner. But from the first jaw-dropping scene in Promising Young Woman, to its even more jaw-dropping finale, Carey Mulligan blazes onto the screen with a brilliant mixture of anger, vulnerability, tragedy, and even a little humor. Mulligan has been an outstanding actress for a while now, but nothing has come close to the bravura performance that still haunts its viewers long after the final frame goes black. An incredible acting achievement.
Best Actor - Comedy/Musical
Winner - (TIE) Michael Angelo Covino "The Climb" and Kyle Marvin "The Climb"
Runners Up - Sacha Baron Cohen "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" and Andy Samberg "Palm Springs"
Commentary - The Climb is a wildly funny, often sharp film that at its heart and core features two real-life friends Michael Angela Covino and Kyle Marvin over the course of many years. Their real-life chemistry and comedic talent make this great indie comedy soar, and in a weaker year for this category, they were an easy duo to pick.
Best Actress - Comedy/Musical
Winner - Radha Blank "The Forty-Year-Old Version"
Runners Up - Cristin Milioti "Palm Springs" and Michelle Pfeiffer "French Exit"
Commentary - See Best Picture - Comedy/Musical
Best Supporting Actor
Winner - Daniel Kaluuya "Judas and the Black Messiah"
Runners Up - Sacha Baron Cohen "The Trial of the Chicago 7", Bill Murray "On the Rocks", Glynn Turman "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"
Commentary - The Supporting Actor race was kind of up in the air until the last two months or so. That was when we saw previous Oscar nominee Daniel Kaluuya blaze onto the screen in Judas and the Black Messiah. The film as a whole is a shocking, timely, and bold piece of filmmaking, with a stellar cast including Lakeith Stanfield (a wonderful surprise Oscar nominee), Dominique Fishback, and Martin Sheen. But Kaluuya is easily the standout with an absolutely jaw-dropping, unequivocal, and energetic performance that was simply unmatched this year.
Best Supporting Actress
Winner - Yuh-jung Youn "Minari"
Runners Up - Maria Bakalova "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm", Dominique Fishback "Judas and the Black Messiah", and Amanda Seyfried "Mank"
Commentary - Minari is a gentle-soul of a film. A simple, yet incredibly effective family drama that brings a unique and needed perspective of the struggle for the American dream. In the midst of an excellent ensemble, a singular scene-stealing performance rose above them all. Already a legend in Korea, the outstanding Yuh-jung Youn, whose SAG win was one of the best surprises of the night, steals every scene she is in. She was hilarious, heartbreaking, tender, and loving. I recently lost my grandmother, Mimi. YJ had that same mix of irreverence and support, love and humor that Mimi always showed to her beloved grandchildren. She and YJ's character come from different worlds, and lived very different lives. But YJ's performance reminds us that the love of a grandmother and the memories we share with them, are vital, timeless, and universal.
Best Ensemble
Winner - The Trial of the Chicago 7
Runners Up - One Night in Miami, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, and Promising Young Woman
Commentary - The SAG voters got it right when they rewarded the amazingly deep and talented cast of The Trial of the Chicago 7. Aaron Sorkin's script, like most of his jaw-dropping masterworks, never misses a beat. But it is the talented cast that take that energy and burning struggle from the page to the screen and light the fire that carries the film. A truly great piece of ensemble acting.
Best Voice Acting/Motion Capture Performance
Winner - Jamie Foxx "Soul"
Runners Up - Angela Bassett "Soul", Sean Bean "Wolfwalkers", Honor Kneafsey "Wolfwalkers"
Commentary - At the heart of Soul is its amazing voice cast, including legends like Angela Bassett and Phylicia Rashad. But it is Jamie Foxx's central performance that brings the humanity and the heart to a visually stunning masterpiece. Foxx is an amazing actor on screen, and has proved that he also has an amazing voice talent that I hope he continues to explore. Soul would not have been the same without his, no pun intended, soulful presence.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner - Kemp Powers "One Night in Miami"
Runners Up - Charlie Kaufman "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" and Chloe Zhao "Nomadland"
Commentary - One Night in Miami gets a lot of credit for its ensemble and Regina King's direction, and deservedly so. But I also think that Kemp Powers deserves a lot of credit for adapting his play to the screen. He took a stage play and managed to easily transform it for the screen to bring a unique cinematic experience. This combined with his work on the script for Soul deem him a worthy winner this year.
Best Original Screenplay
Winner - Radha Blank "The Forty-Year-Old Version"
Runners Up - Aaron Sorkin "The Trial of the Chicago 7", Pete Docter, Mike Jones, and Kemp Powers "Soul", Emerald Fennell "Promising Young Woman"
Runners Up - See Best Picture - Comedy/Musical
Best Cinematography
Winner - (TIE) Eric Messerschmidt "Mank" and Joshua James Richards "Nomadland"
Runners Up - Karim Hussain "Possessor"
Commentary - Despite not being able to see films in the actual theaters, there were clearly a lot of beautiful shots in film his year, which was king of like rubbing salt in an pandemic wound. Joshua James Richards is the Oscar frontrunner for his breathtaking shots in Nomadland, and deservedly so. His work, even on a smaller screen, was stunning to say the least. But I also thought that Eric Messerschmidt's brilliant black and white shots in Mank, along with the hopefully Oscar winning production design team, helped transport us back to the 1940s. I could not leave this year without rewarding his worthy work as well.
Best Visual Effects
Winner - Soul
Runners Up - The Invisible Man, Tenet, and The Midnight Sky
Commentary - Animated films never get the recognition they deserve in technical categories, particularly in visual effects. I think that people think it is more impressive to impose those effects in live action films. But it is equally impressive, and an equal display of talent to create some of the stunning visuals that have been the hallmark of animated films for almost a century. Soul really just continues to move the visual medium of animated films forward with its absolutely stunning aesthetic and its brilliant visual creations on screen. It was unfortunately snubbed at the Oscars. However it did make the short list which was nice, but definitely not enough recognition.
Worst Film of the Year
Loser - Dolittle
Runners Up - The Last Thing He Wanted, Superintelligence, and Bloodshot
Commentary - How to do even start with Dolittle? It had a classic story to pull from, a large budget to ensure high production value, an Oscar-winning screenwriter at its helm, and a cast of some of the best actors working in Hollywood today including Robert Downey Jr., Antonio Banderas, and Octavia Spencer just to name a few. But fraught with production issues, what came out was a horrendous mess, a waste of talent, and a genuinely unpleasant film to watch. It probably isn't worse than say Superintelligence, but it earns this unique distinction because it should have been good, it should have been at least okay, and they couldn't even manage to do that.
Top 20 Films of 2020 (Through February 2021)
1. Nomadland
2. The Forty-Year-Old Version
3. Soul
4. The Trial of the Chicago 7
5. Promising Young Woman
6. Mank
7. One Night in Miami
8. Minari
9. Da 5 Bloods
10. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
11. News of the World
12. Time
13. Never Rarely Sometimes Always
14. On the Rocks
15. First Cow
16. Sound of Metal
17. Miss Juneteenth
18. Judas and the Black Messiah
19. Palm Springs
20. The Vast of Night
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